Extensity Adds Kertzman to Board

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Extensity Adds Kertzman to Board

Software industry veteran Mitchell Kertzman will join the board of Extensity, a developer of Web-based cost-management applications, Extensity said Monday.

Kertzman, who currently serves as the co-chief executive of database software company Sybase, will be Extensity's fourth board member. He will bring 25 years of experience in the business software industry to the Emeryville, California, company.

Closely held Extensity, founded in 1996, writes computer programs that help big companies keep track of employee expense reports and supply requests. The company has been looking for seasoned managers to direct its growth, Extensity said.

Kertzman earned fame in the early 1990s for taking Powersoft, the company he founded, from a minor player in bookkeeping software to the developer of Powerbuilder, the tool of choice for programmers assembling client-server applications. As demand for client-server systems swelled, Powersoft's fortunes skyrocketed, leading the company to one of the most successful initial public offerings of 1993, then to a record-breaking buyout by Sybase (SYBS). Shortly after the acquisition, Kertzman became Sybase CEO.

Extensity, backed by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers' Java Fund, is banking on increased demand for automating and streamlining procedures for processing expense accounts and other cost reports. The company's chief product, Extensity Expense Reports, relies on Java to speed accounting processes across the Web. Extensity is set to release other products shortly, including systems for managing purchase, travel, and time card reports.

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Zap gets a banker buddy: Zapata, the Texas fish-processing company that’s been netting Web sites in a bid to become an Internet portal, named Salomon Smith Barney on Monday as its investment bank to help in financial strategy.

Salomon Smith Barney will help arrange Zapata's (ZAP) financing. Its Zap Internet arm has said it will buy its way into becoming a rival to leaders AOL and Yahoo.

Salomon will advise Zapata on its acquisitions and try to figure out how Zapata can finance the purchases with Zap's stock, which so far can't be traded on public markets.

"They’re here to advise on acquisitions and on what Zap.com will look like going forward, whether it be a spinoff or an IPO,” said Keith Lanigan, a spokesman for Zapata.

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Windows open in China: Microsoft (MSFT) released the mainland Chinese version of its Windows 98 operating system Monday in a glitzy ceremony that underscored its ambitions for one of the world's fastest-growing computer markets.

More than 1,000 Chinese computer and software specialists gathered in a luxury Beijing hotel for a party featuring confetti, fireworks, and even a cherry red Ferrari sports car that roared into the hotel's function hall.

With personal-computer sales expected to hit 4 million units in 1998, roughly one-third higher than last year, China is fast becoming a crucial market for the software giant, a company official said.

"We believe the China marketplace in the near term is very, very significant," said Michael Rawding, regional director for Microsoft China. "This launch is representative, along with a number of other things that we're considering, of indeed a more strategic investment by Microsoft in the China marketplace," he said.

The release uses the simplified version of Chinese characters used in mainland China. Hong Kong and Taiwan still employ the traditional, complex Chinese script.

Windows 98 will hit store shelves in five major Chinese cities at midnight Monday in a special sale to last 98 minutes. The software carries a price tag of 1,998 yuan (US$240), but Windows 95 users can upgrade for about 1,100 yuan ($130).

Although the price is about double the monthly salary of an average urban worker, Microsoft has cut deals with local PC makers to pre-install Windows 98 on new computers.